The Kishkinta Ride

"Once more polama ,daddy?

NO!!"

25th December,2013 was a holiday. This was a much needed holiday for all of us. The entire batch yearned to spend a lazy holiday at home, but this wasn't going to be such a day.
After many a failed attempts at planning, we decided to visit a water theme park..after various rounds of voting and vetoing we finalized on 'Kishkinta water theme park". Some of my batch mates told  me not to have any prior expectations but  me being me held great hopes at a fun day.

As discussed, we all met up at a common point at 10.30 AM. (You might hear different versions of this story wherein I would be described as unpunctual, but pay no heed! :D ). 16 of us boarded the local Chennai safari (or MTC some might call it). We changed two buses and after an hour of traveling, landed in the kishkinta island. As I reached there, a wave of nostalgia crossed me. Come to think of  it, my childhood would have been incomplete without the regular  Kishkinta and Black Thunder ads on TV.

We bought entry passes(quite frankly they were priced on higher side) and ventured into what we hoped would be a memorable experience.

Ride 1:
Wow!Whatte a start. This was an aerodynamic lift thingy. It made us a little dizzy but fun nonetheless.

Ride 2:
Okay dashing cars. Bleh. Could've skipped that. Next ride

Ride 3:

"Closed for lunch. Pinne vango."

Ride 4:
Columbus woooohooooo.

But hey,thats it. Dry rides were done.
(Say whaaat? )
We were shocked. There were hardly 4 dry rides.Someone aptly summed it;"these are trial versions da ,where is the real deal?" This was when I understood the initial 'don't get your hopes up'  expression.

As depressing as it was, we were trying to focus on the water rides, for it was called ' WATER' theme park.

The water pool lived up to our expectations.Large waves of water crashed into us, it came as a blessing under the blazing hot sun. Neither fiery red eyes nor tanned bodies could get us out of water.
After a full two hours of splashing and swaying ,hunger succeeded in doing that task.

The collective growling of our stomachs couldn't be missed from a mile away. It is said that  a hungry Indian would go at any lengths to fulfill his food needs, even otherwise unimaginable things like following a queue. We patiently waited in line only to find out that our orders were canceled. Instantaneously, the 16 of us started to yell at the chef cum manager guy. Helpless, the guy managed to get us 11 plates. With no second question, we devoured it.

Tsunami:

After the elephants, Kishkinta is next best known for Tsunami. Of course it was a man made Tsunami.
After almost an hour of announcements and build up at the wave pool, it finally arrived. And when it arrived, it took us all away. It was an adventurous experience and yes I wouldn't want to do it again.

 Water Rides:
I have to agree this was awesome. Water slides were not a new sight, but there was something that made the combination of water and rides the perfect recipe for fun.

One hour of fun on slides, we had had enough. At the end, it turned out to be an eventful day.So this batch outing was a sooper success.

But then:
"Once more polama daddy?

Still, NO!"

P.S.: Once more polama daddy translates to "Let's go again "in Tamil, referring to a Kishkinta ad.

For people interested to do further research on the subject,here's a YouTube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8OE3K6LFR0

Back to sChOOL !

Remember those times when English grammar was not existent, let alone an enemy? Seems like a long time since that happened, right?. School days, yes! This was when new and hip words got added to our dictionary at the blink of an eye! Come on, you used them and thought they were cool, and some actually were.


Various everyday words mostly stemmed from regional dialects like Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil etc. These words became a huge part of who were (/are).

Cutting short..

1) Your head: This word was a winner. 'Your head' is an exact translation of Nin thale in Kannada. It was used as the first and best retort at something/anything you did not agree with.

Don't agree with me? Your head!

2) Sim simply : You remember this word, don't you? It loosely means doing something for no specific reason or simply, very very simply. For instance if someone ate erasers, he simply 'ate erasers' wouldn't suffice, 'sim simply ate erasers' was how it was done. 

Simsimply don't eat erasers ya!

3) Maha : Maha was used to describe enormity. Maha literally means major or great in almost all South Indian languages.
In can be used in context of size, intelligence or anything big really.

This maha fellow's intelligence is unbelievable!

4) God promise : Are you accused of something you might/might not have done? Are all evidences pointing towards you? There comes God promise to the rescue. God of all promises, utter these magic words and the trial is over. You're innocent. Nothing flies over God promise.
God promise, miss!

5) Dude : Basically this isn't an Indian origin slang (as you all know). However, we've teased this word to our convenience and made it our own. A recent research has shown that the word 'dude' is used as frequently as uprisings in Egypt. Dude!

'Deewd, doood, dud' are some of its variants.

6) Da, Ra, Macha : These are the Indian equivalents of dude. They are used to address male friends. (not necessarily friends though). Some might prefer dude to da but what dude, da is any day cooler!

7) Getdowning : This is a grammatical error alright but it is so silly. I distinctly remember thinking getdowning WAS 'getting down'.

I was getdowning the bus when suddenly that cycle came!

8) Thu : I still use this word, don't you? Thu is used to express frustration. You can insert it anywhere and it instantly changes the mood. Want me to demonstrate? 

A : Hey, how are you?
B : Thu, I'm fine.

Get it? No? Okay moving on..

9) Chumma : Being a Malayalee myself, I've used chumma more than you! Chumma means 'simply' but then again chumma and sim simply are on different levels.(you should know that by now).

10) Pakka : Pakka is a variant of '100%'. How would you know that somebody who agreed upon something would actually follow through? If he said 'Pakka, I'll do it'! Pakka meant surety, pakka meant pakka!

Here are some of your suggestions :

11) Yappa: Yappa is used to display annoyance. You either hate this word, or love it. There 's no in between. I am a user , it comes perfectly handy to show disgust! \m/

12) Nimajji : Nimajji is a popular term that is almost offensive. However, noone ever takes it badly. It means 'your granny', an Indian version of 'Yo mama' but somehow, less offensive.

These are just a few of the many words that have shaped us. If you think I've left out biggies, please help me edit this!

P.S.:  I'm not very familiar with non South Indian slang words. Forgive me and help me broaden my word base.

Shit just got real

This post was inspired by a blog I read online.
It went on like this, 'I'm twenty something..ish'.

I'm twenty something..ish too. Am I worried? Yes. Can I do something about it? No.
Someone summed up my transition  from12 to 22  -Shit just got real.
That, I thought was perfect.

That nagging feeling I have, of a 12 year old being trapped in the body of a 22 year old is awkward. Aging I thought, was not for me. My mom aged, my dad aged, but me? Damn. Shit just got real.

In five years time I would not be here, blogging about my anxiety but will most definitely be mopping or paying premiums. And five years ago, I was this kid who graduated school. In this window of ten years I would transform from a skinny,chilled out girl to a 'healthy', not so chilled out (yet very very cool) person. Thinking about it gives me the 'chills' .

I'm whining alright. I want to be 20 again. I want time to freeze, like right now.

Ah I am asking for a bit too much,eh? I constantly fear if I am wasting time, waiting for this 25 year old self to occupy my body. How do I welcome the latter that she'd say "Girl, yo 25?Yo too cool for this!" ?


Yes I need a plan.

 P.S: A plan that doesn't involve ponds anti age miracle.
 
So what could I do?Umm....

1. Find my passion? Too cliched and almost meaningless. Passion finds you.(Here have a passion fruit if you like) :\                                                  
2. Become a billionaire? Ka Chiiiiiiiiiiiinggg! ( Did you sing Shania Twain?) *fist bump*
3. Or write a book? *grammar/patience grins*

(Me : Can I have ponds anti age miracle,please?
Shop guy : How many?
Me : All of them, aall of them I sayyy!!)

I have recently relocated my entire life and well it feels good and bad. Good mainly because it's new, it's mysterious...and bad well because it's all new! In this strange town that I'm in..I feel young again. Like a scared teenager exploring the corridors of my new workplace, running into people from dead end corners . It is as if 'god' pre read this draft and handed over the situation to me( right now I can almost see him grinning..*you asked for it*).
I can safely assume new adventures await me, to capture them and squeeze all the fun out. So cheers to all the fun I'm going to have!See you on the other side, the fun side. Ciao.

Wind Chimes..

Dainty wind chimes sway

Bringing musical warmth to me.

Cleansing my bleeding ears of

News from death and misery.

I lie soaking in endless joy

A torment relief recipe for free.

For music from wind chimes is

Indeed a great symphony.

Back and forth they go

As I languidly dream of love.

Sleepy eyes, tired mind and I

No longer hear its song.

Trees, waters and birds

Indulging, brimming with life.

Calm my thoughts, head, and I

Hear a faint melodic tune….

Wind chimes play along

Waking me from blissful sleep.

Awake or asleep let be, I cannot

Miss its amiable compassion.

Darkness

As darkness descends, I cry in agony

Grey skies look down upon me

Fear engulfs my little soul and I

Yell into darkness, hollow channels.

My screams transcend life and light,

No knight in shining armor saves me

I die alone, fragment by fragment.

Piece by piece my death unites.

A deep pain pierces my heart

Of the sights I cannot appreciate

For life blooming, trees swaying are

Gone, affairs of the past.

“Save me”, I implore in vain.

Dark fumes consume me, tear me apart.

Slowly, I relieve my fear, accept my fate

I die today but my fear dies with me.

Jobless? Who me?

DAY 1

8AM

30th August, 2012 was just another day. I woke up at around 8, took bath and  began to dress hurriedly. I picked out a random salwar kameez, swept through my hair and that's about it. I made sure I had my file , ID card, some certificates and good wishes from Amma before leaving

9.10AM

I usually reach college on time(sometimes I reach late...OK most of the time I'm late!!) . That day was no different.Oh did I tell you?Today was the day a reputed company was coming for campus recruitment.(nothing to get excited about, I was from Biotech and no placement aptitude test passes without C or C++ questions. Yawn!). Anyway, it was 9.15 and me and my friends ran towards our auditorium (AKA cow shed ). This cow shed should be given a little more credit alright.They improved upon it as much as they could. It looked decent now.

So there we were, waiting for this 'company fellows' to give their presentation and get it over with! 600 of us had gathered there for a comapny that would take 40-50 odd students.Humph!

Suddenly 4 people walked inside alongside our placement officer(PO). The latter ,our PO is seen as the biggest asset of our college.
(Make it quick with the presentation and test, we are sleepy).
Our PO formally introduced them ..(glorifying everybody). This was followed by the 'company fellows' talking to us and praising us so much that they used words like 'champions, heroes' etc. I couldn't care less.
After the presentation, they briefed us on the rounds that we had to battle as we went along. All in all there were 5 rounds; aptitude, group discussion, technical interview, paragraph writing and HR interview.

11.30AM
90 questions, 90 minutes (Okay, doable..but what about C, C++ questions???).
There were 4 sets of question papers and I got set D. I looked at the paper and a small ray of hope flickered .No C or C++ questions. Phew. Math, Logical reasoning and verbal. Now I had a chance (of clearing this first hurdle). Yes, it was not impossible now..

It was not very tough (at least for me). My 90 minutes were up..I submitted the paper and went to eat. My friends and I started discussing the paper.. we wanted to clear this. I mean if we couldn't clear this..what could we do? (after all, this had no computer questions as that was our excuse for previous exams!).

3.30PM
As I walked back to the classroom where my prospective career would be decided...I was nervous.I looked at my friends, they were shaky too. One guy walked in with a bunch of OMR sheets and started to read out names. Many names passed...no sign of mine. My vision was directed grimly at his lips, trying to conceive every syllable even before it came out as sound..
There it was..I could see it coming.. "Niimiiishaa", he said. I breathed heavily!!!

5PM

Now the first part was done. 7 of us from our department cleared the test (awesome!) and 150 odd students in total. Next round was group discussion (GD). Frankly, I was not fazed by this round because I knew I could rattle up something/anything and move on.
They divided us into many (many) groups. I was in group number 12. I waited patiently till my turn..trying to think of good points for any current affairs topic. At last they called us in..we were 10 of us. "Social networking sites, good/bad for youth'. Aah this I ll definitely clear I thought.
And I did.

6.30 PM (I think)

Since I cleared my GD I was next in line for technical interview. Technical, my foot. I knew nothing technical in anything except maybe in my field. Some lady called my name and I ran into a room that read 'Panel 4' (I think). There I was sitting in an interview room for the first time in my life!!I could not process my thoughts but I tried to remain as cool as possible.(I kept reminding myself that this was not the end of the world..but somewhere inside me I wanted to be 'victorious').
Let me tell you, apart from a very few basic 'C' questions she did not trouble me. She asked me about my projects and technicalities involved. I explained everything with utmost elaboration and diagrams.(Yes I overacted to impress her). I smiled and nodded at her so much that I felt a little dizzy afterwards.
But it was all worth it. It went well and I was happy.


7.30 PM

It was time for the results ..and 3 of us from my class cleared the interview along with 70 others. They wound up for the day and asked us to sleep over the fact that we had another round tomorrow. (paragraph writing was not elimination round)
Great !How Am I going to sleep?!

DAY 2

8 AM
I was ready by 8 AM today (Yes, I wore a suit that my friends had gifted me on my birthday..loved it). I reached college at around 9 and directly went to placement and training room.

10AM
Well, the 'company fellows' showed up by around 10 O'CLOCK.They did not waste much time in giving the topic for paragraph writing. 15 minutes and they collected the paper. I was pleased with what I wrote. It was decent, I thought.

11AM

One of the coordinators announced 10 names and asked us to go for HR interview, immediately. Like NOWW. (Yes I was the second to go in!!).

The interview was not technical, but it was the 'make or break' types.It was chilled out . The panelist made me read out my passage. He said a 'good' in the end (I'm sure he wasn't listening). He asked me if I was ready to relocate and I promptly said 'YES'. (it was like a reflex..anything he asked and I said 'Yes, of course, Why not Sir?').He asked me why I wanted this company only when I had other companies coming. I gave such a tactical answer for this..(I gave an imaginary pat on my back for my instant answer!) .If I reveal the answer, I ll have to reveal the company..Ping me on FB for this.

11.30 AM

I was done with all the rounds..what to do now? I called Dad, Mom and everyone and told them what happened. I was bored.12PM , 1PM, 2PM..no change in status. Yawn.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Fast forward

7.PM (yes you read it right!)

After the 7 hour wait..finally the scenario started to change. Students were done with all rounds and results were in sight.HRs, leaving out the formal stuff started announcing THE names. 10-15 names passed..no sign of my name..(Damn they chucked out all Biotech people! Why did we join this branch?).

Suddenly..there it was..NIMISHA EP (I was so proud of my name that day).
What?? I got the job?Before this could sink in...he called out my friend's name. Yay two of us from Biotech. (\m/)
They took 55 of us that day, 55 'champions'.

This is how 30th and 31st August went from being really ordinary days to extra ordinary days in my life!!!(and for 54 other people).

PS : I would like to tell you that I rejected this offer recently, but I will hold this experience dearly as it was and will be my first real job experience!

The melancholy of Bollywood movies.

'Second half of the movies Rockstar and The Dirty Picture would make the worst movie ever.' I happened to hear this on  radio and it made me wonder.Why? What is the problem with the second half of Bollywood films? (There are movies with both the halves being hopeless, but let's not get into that now).

In India, superstars are made overnight. Today, the elite '100 crore club' is something every Bollywood hero aspires to see himself in. Indian/Bollywood movies are defined by the money they make and rarely by the content of the film. For instance 'Son of Sardar' and 'Bodyguard' were called sooper hits and praised by every viewer. I died watching one and  survived because I did not watch the other.

Heroine. How can Kareena Kapoor market 'Heroine' as her most expressive performance when the movie is full of stereotypes and artificiality?

Players. Enough has been said about this film but I'm forced to say a thing or two. Sonam Kapoor as a hacker and Bipasha Basu as an automotive engineer ? 'You've made fun of your film already, Sir.'

Is it  impossible to write a not so over-the-top screenplay? Are the screenplays contrived ? Why else would actors accept movies like they do? Why else would Akshay Kumar act in that alien movie and market it as if it were EPIC?All this goes beyond me.

Coming to some good cinema Bollywood has produced in the recent past..Barfi. Okay don't throw your footwear at me, I enjoyed it. I realize it was blatantly copied ,but the fact that I enjoyed the film cannot be taken away.

Kai Po Che.. well I did not thoroughly enjoy this film but it should be credited for being the first mainstream medium to showcase Gujarat riots. Kahaani..well it was a fine film. They tried to make the film real but I'm a little hard to impress I guess. I distinctly remember a scene where Vidya interacts with a couple of kids and that scene reminded me it wasn't as real.

I just remembered..SONGS. One main ingredient for success! 'Cocktail' - the songs were so catchy that the zero content script was forgiven. A certain percentage of viewers enjoyed the film too because of those well timed songs. Humph!

 I'm of the opinion that no song/actor/director should compromise the script.But who cares for my opinion.

Okay going back to whatI do best.Nothing.

Ciao.